Dispensing mechanism for a vending machine

ABSTRACT

A dispensing mechanism for a coin-operated vending machine of that type having at least one substantially vertical chamber adapted to hold a plurality of cookie packages in stacked relation, one on top of the other. A fixed horizontal ledge is positioned beneath the stack of packages to provide a bottom supporting surface. An ejector cage is positioned at the bottom of the stack and is adapted to reciprocate horizontally between a home position whereat the bottommost package of the stack is embraced by the cage and an eject position whereat the cage (with the bottommost package) is pushed from beneath the stack and over the fixed horizontal ledge for dispensing the cookie package.

g at least one substantially old a plurality of cookie on top of the other. A fixed horizontal ledge is positioned beneath the stack of packages to provide a bottom supporting surface. An ejector cage is posipted to reciprocate by the cage and an ge with the bottommost the fixed [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,590,700 6/1926 Roberts... 2,700,586 1/1955 Shepherd..................... Primary Examiner-Samuel F. Coleman Assistant Examiner-James M. Slatte Attorney-Wood, Herrong; Evans ABSTRACT: A dispensing mechanism for a coin-operated vending machine of that type havin vertical chamber adapted to h packages in stacked relation, one

tioned at the bottom of the stack and is ada horizontally between a home, position whereat the bottommost package of the stack is embraced eject position whereat the ca package) is pushed from beneath the stack and over horizontal ledge for dispensing the cookie package.

221/247, 221/268, 221/232 Int.

Charles J. Lang Cincinnati, Ohio; Charlie F. Jones, Covlngton, Ky. Appl. No. 35,399

May 7, 1970 William F. Shepherd Inc. Cincinnati, Ohio MACHINE 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs. 52 1365b 3/24 221/268, 232, 312, 180, 248, 247, 267, 264, 249; 133/5 United States Patent [72] Inventors [22] Filed [45] Patented Nov. 9, I971 [73] Assignee [54] DISPENSING MECHANISM FOR A VENDING fl/flfllllfl/flf/fl/lIll/l?Ill I!!! ak w DISPENSING MECHANISM FOR A VENDING MACHINE The ejector cage is comprised of a rear pusher plate to which a forwardly extending U-shaped bracket is pivotally mounted, thereby defining the ejector cage. The bracket is interconnected by linkage to a fixed point on the housing above the ejector cage such that, as the cage is reciprocated between home position and eject position, the U-shaped bracket is pivoted upwardly. This feature prevents the cookie package from being trapped between the ledges front edge and the cages bracket when the dispensing mechanism is operated quite rapidly and, thereby, prevents jamming of the machine into an inoperative condition.

This invention relates to vending machines. More particularly, this invention relates to vending machines of the type which are adapted to dispense cookie packages one by one from the bottom of a stack of cookie packages.

Vending machines are, of course, old in the art and have been used with a good deal of commercial success over the years. A vending machine is basically made up of a coin rejector, a coin plate, and a product dispenser. To obtain a product package from the machine a consumer places a coin in the coin slot. The coin first proceeds through the coin rejector where it is accepted as a valid coin or rejected as either a slug or of the wrong denomination. After passing through the coin rejector the coin is seated in the coin plate. The coin must be present in the coin plate so that the product dispenser can be manually operated by the customer to eject a selected product package from the vending machine. When a coin is not present in the coin plate, the coin plate mechanism prevents the product dispenser from being completely actuated, that is, the coin plate establishes a lock on the product dispenser, so that a package cannot be dispensed.

One type of dispensing mechanism useful as part of the product dispenser of a vending machine, and one type that has proved quite practical and useful over the years, is that disclosed in the patent to W. F. Shepherd, US. Pat. No. 2,700,586. This dispensing mechanism is particularly suited to the dispensing of product packages wherein the contents are fragile wherein the packages are stacked one on top of the other in a substantially vertical column, and wherein each package is of substantial height itself, for example, packages of cookies, crackers, or the like. This dispensing mechanism is particularly advantageous in that it is adapted to handle irregularly sized and shaped packages which may be irregularly stacked. Further, this dispensing mechanism is particularly advantageous in that, when a package is ejected from the bottom of the stack or column, the stack is lowered in a series of steps rather than by a single fall; this prevents damage to the contents of the lowermost package remaining in the stack when the weight of the stack above it is substantial.

The mechanism of the Shepherd patent basically includes for each stack of packages, a reciprocable ejector cage positioned between (a) a fixed horizontal ledge and (b) a vertical housing positioned above the ledge and adapted to hold a plurality of the packages in vertical stacked relation one on top of the other. The ejector cage is comprised of a pair of sidewalls, a narrowed front wall extending downwardly from the upper edges of the sidewalls to a line intermediate the upper and lower edges of the sidewalls, and a horizontally disposed package-supporting table fixed to the sidewalls and positioned intermediate between the upper and lower edges of the sidewalls. The table extends forwardly from the rear edges of the sidewalls to a line intermediate the rear and forward edges of the sidewalls. Further, the ejector cage includes a pusher plate extending vertically downwardly from the front edge of the package-supporting table to just clear of the fixed horizontal ledge.

The ejector cage is normally positioned at a home position whereat its pusher plate is aligned with or slightly recessed to the rear of the backwall of the housing, the ejector cage being adapted to receive and loosely embrace the lowermost package in the stack in this attitude. The ejector cage's front wall prevents the bottommost cookie package from falling out of the bottom of the package stack if the vending machine is tipped forward. The ejector cage is provided with a mechanism by which it can be selectively moved forward to an eject position in which the table is positioned beneath the housing to intercept the fall of the next succeeding package in the stack, and the pusher plate is positioned clear of the fixed horizontal ledge. In the eject position the lowermost package is dispensed by gravity clear of the package-supporting ledge. The narrowed front wall provides clearance for the falling package so that the sudden return of the ejector cage from its forward dispensing position does not catch the falling package between the cage 's front wall and the fixed ledge.

While the dispensing mechanism of the Shepherd patent has been quite widely used in vending machines since its introduction to the marketplace, the economics of the vending machine industry today give rise to certain problems with this dispensing mechanism. In today's market a vending machine having a vertical dispensing chamber that is adapted to dispense packages of cookies, crackers, sandwiches or the like must be adapted to dispense 5-cent packages as well as 10- cent packages. The height of these packages vary substantially in that, for example, a 5-cent package may have four separate cookie or cracker sandwiches stacked one on top the other, and a IO-cent package may have six separate sandwiches stacked one on top the other. The height of a IO-cent cookie package therefore, is approximately one-half higher than the height of a S-cent package. Thus, it is highly desirable that a dispensing mechanism of the ejector cage type be adapted to dispense not only the S-cent size package but also the lO-cent size package.

The dispensing mechanism of the Shepherd patent is particularly adapted for use with the S-cent size cookie packages. As mentioned, one of the problems with such an ejector cage type dispensing mechanism occurs when the manually operated lever associated with the dispensing mechanism is operated rapidly and permitted to snap back. If such occurs the cookie package being dispensed may not have sufficient time to fall clear of the cage's front wall. In the ejector cage structure illustrated in the Shepherd patent, the specially configured and cutout portion in the front wall provides the needed clearance so that a 5-cent size package is not caught between the cages front wall and the front edge of the horizontal, stack support ledge under such operating conditions.

But, an ejector cage such as illustrated in the Shepherd patent, when used with a IO-cent package which is at least half again as high as a 5-cent package, causing the ejector cage type dispensing mechanism to jam when operated as indicated above even with the cutout portion in the front wall. If the bottom edge of the ejector cage's front wall is elevated above the horizontal stack support ledge sufficient to handle a lO-cent package so that jamming cannot occur, the size of that cutout portion would no doubt be sufficient to permit a S-cent size package to fall free from the stack when the machine is tipped forward and, further, would no doubt be sufficient to permit a IO-cent package to be wiggled free simply by reaching up through the consumer access area and manipulating the package from the bottom with the fingertips. Of course, such a problem would only occur when a person attempts to rob the vending machine, but the dispensing mechanism naturally must be constructed to prevent such a possibility.

Thus, it has been one objective of this invention to provide a dispensing mechanism for a vending machine of the ejector cage type which is particularly adapted to dispense 5-cent size packages of cookies as well as lO-cent size packages of cookies.

It has been another objective of this invention to provide a dispensing mechanism for a vending machine of the ejector cage type which alleviates the problem of jamming the vending machine through catching of a falling cookie package between the ejector cages front wall and the horizontal stack support ledge at the bottom of the substantially vertical stack of packages upon operation of the machine.

Other objectives and advantages of this invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partially broken away, partial perspective view of that part of a coin-operated vending machine which incorporates the dispensing mechanism of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 illustrating the lower end of one of the stacks, the view showing the drive mechanism and the ejector cage mechanism in home position;

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating the ejector cage mechanism in operation; i.e., intermediate the home position and an eject position;

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrating the ejector cage mechanism in eject position;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2 further illustrating the ejector cage mechanism; and,

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view similar to FIGS. 2-4 illustrating the ejector cage mechanism of the prior art and the problems resulting therefrom.

The novel ejector cage mechanism 10 of this invention is illustrated in combination with a vending machine 11 used for dispensing packages 12 of cookies, crackers, or the like, see FIG. 1. For purposes of this invention, the phrase cookie package" is considered to mean packages of cookies, crackers or the like. The vending machine includes a magazine 13 for carrying the packages in stacked relation one on top the other in a series of substantially vertical stacks 14. A package 12 is dispensed from the bottom of a stack 14 by the ejector cage mechanism I0 that is operated by drive mechanism 16, the ejector cage mechanism 10 and drive mechanism 16 constituting the product dispenser of the vending machine. The product dispenser is, of course, associated with a coin plate, not shown, and a coin rejector, not shown; the coin plate and coin rejector form no part of the ejector cage or dispensing mechanism of this invention.

The product dispenser is mounted within a housing having a top front wall 17 that extends substantially below and is positioned substantially in front of the ejector cage 10, a bottom front wall 18 provided with vertical slots 19 through which levers 21 extend, and a backwall 20. The product dispenser is actuated by manually operated levers 21 which are adapted to be depressed to achieve dispensing of a package 12 from a stack 14. The top front wall 17 is spaced from the home position of the ejector cage 10 such that the ejector cage can be moved forwardly to the eject position without contacting the front wall 17, see FIGS. 2-4. When dispensed, the package 12 is moved forward from beneath the stack toward the top front wall 17 from where it drops along a substantially vertical delivery track 22 to a ledge 23 where it can be retrieved by the consumer.

The magazine 13 is divided into a series of vertical chambers 26 defined by rear plate 24 and dividers 25 to provide for the plurality of stacks 14 of packages 12. The magazine 13 further comprises a transparent front door 27 pivotable at its upper edge, not shown. This permits easy and simple loading of the magazine 13 as the front door 27 need only be pivoted by a serviceman to expose the entire magazine for filling.

The dispensing or ejector cage mechanism 10 of this invention, as illustrated in FIGS. 2-4, is shown in combination with three vertical chambers 26 in the vending machine partially illustrated in FIG. 1; the details of the ejector cage mechanism for each stack 14 of packages is the same as for each other stack. A fixed, horizontal ledge 28 supports each stack 14 of packages 12 when the ejector cage 10 is in home position. The ledge 28 extends in a generally horizontal plane beneath each of the three stacks 14, and is positioned substantially above the delivery ledge 23. Each vertical chamber 26 is positioned so that the bottom package 12 of each stack l4 occupies a position adjacent to or slightly behind the front edge 29 of the fixed horizontal ledge 28. The bottom edge 30 of the chambers rear wall 24 is substantially above the ledge 28 to permit the rear part of the ejector cage 10 to reciprocate therebeneath, the bottom edges 31 of the dividers 25 are positioned closely adjacent the ledge 28 to aid in maintaining isolation between vertical chambers 26 from the top of the stack 14 therein to the ledge 28.

The ejector cage 10 is mounted to reciprocate horizontally across the top of the fixed ledge 28 in a direction to and from the forward edge 29 of the ledge, i.e., in a substantially horizontal direction compared to the substantially vertical direction in which each stack 14 of packages 12 is retained. The ejector cage mechanism 10 is made up of a forwardly disposed cage or bracket 32 and a rearwardly disposed table 33. The cage 32 is constituted of two vertically disposed sideplates 34 joined by a front wall or bar 35 to provide a substantially U-shaped cage or bracket extending from and mounted to the table 33. The rear ends 37 of the sides 34, it will be particularly noted, are mounted by pins 39 to two flanges 38 carried by the table 33, thereby providing a pivotal mounting between the U-shaped cage 32 and the table 33. The front bar 35 of the U-shaped bracket 32 joins the sideplates 34 toward the top edges 41 thereof, but extends only less than half of the way down to the fixed ledge 28 on which the bottom edges 42 of the sideplates are closely adjacent in the home position, see FIG. 2. That is, the front wall or bar 35 of the U-shaped bracket 32 is provided with a cutout portion 43 that extends from the bottom edges 42 of the sidewalls 34 to a point approximately midway to the top edges 41 of the side walls. The top edge 44 of the front wall or bar 35 is flush with the top edges 41 of the sidewalls 34. Preferably, the bottom edge 45 of the bar 35 is positioned such that, when the ejector cage 10 is in the home position shown in FIG. 2, that edge 45 traces a line on the package 12a which is of a height above the bottom 46 of the package that is no greater than 75 percent of the diameter D or width of the cookie package depending on whether the package has a circular (as shown) or square cross section. When the ejector cage 32 is at home position, the front wall 35 of the cage is approximately over the forward edge 29 ofthe ledge 28.

The table 33 is comprised of a horizontal top 48 and a vertical wall or riser 49 which constitutes the rear wall of the cage 32. The horizontal areas defined by the top of the table 33 and by the cage 32 are approximately equal, such areas being greater than the area of the bottoms 46 of the packages 12 to be dispensed so that each package may be successively supported by the table and enclosed by the cage. The table 33 is supported on the ledge 28 by a vertical brace 58 fixed to the underside of the table, the brace being movable in slot 59 provided in the horizontal ledge. The vertical brace 58 mounts wheels 61 on each side thereof both above and below the ledge 28, the wheels being adapted to ride on the horizontal ledge 28 as the table reciprocates back and forth thereon in the direction indicated by arrow 62 between home position, see FIG. 2, and eject position, see FIG. 4. As indicated in the drawings the height of the top edge 44 of the cage's front wall 35 above ledge 28 is greater than the height of the tables 33 surface 48 above the ledge 28, the height ratio disclosed being approximately 2-1. The height H (FIG. 2) of the package 12 to be dispensed must be above the height top edge 44 of the cage s bar 35 above ledge 28.

Further, and importantly, the front bar 35 of each U-shaped bracket 32 is interconnected with a support rail 53 fixed to dividers 25a, 25b, the rail 53 spanning three vertical chambers 26. Each bracket 35 is interconnected with the rail 53 by linkage which, in preferred form, is a tension spring 54. Each tension spring 54 is hooked at one end to a hole 55 provided in the middle of the U-shaped brackets front bar 35, and at the other end to a hole 56 in the support rail 53 located in between the dividers 25 of that stack with which that ejector cage 10 is associated.

When the ejector cage mechanism 10 is operated, the ejector cage moves forwardly and the cage pushes the lowermost package 12a in the stack 14, which rests on the ledge 28 in front of pusher plate 49 (see FIG. 2), forwardly over the edge 29 of the ledge, whereby the package drops by gravity out of the cage (see FIG. 4) downwardly along track 22 onto delivery ledge 23 see operation sequence of FIGS. 2-4. The top 48 of the table 33 takes over the support of the bottom of the next lowermost package 12b of the stack as the top of the lowermost package 12a is relieved of the burden, see FIGS. 3 and 4. As the ejector cage moves forwardly toward the leading edge 29 of the ledge 28, the tension spring 54 interconnecting the front wall 35 of the U-shaped bracket 32 with the support rail 53 causes the U-shaped bracket to pivot upwardly about its pivotal mountings 39 with the table 33. The bracket 32 is thereby forced to pivot between a first position at the home position of the ejector cage whereat the front wall 35 serves to aid in confining the bottommost package 12a in a stack 14 in the stored position and a second position at the eject position of the ejector cage whereat the front wall 35 is pivoted up out of the way of the top of the bottommost package in the stack in the eject position. In the second position the bottom edge 45 of the front wall 35 is raised to a horizontal plane above the top of the lowermost package 12a if that package were still in stacked relation. Thus, the combination of the cutout portion 43 of the front wall 35 of the ejector cage 10 with the pivotal mounting of the bracket 32 to the table 33 permits the taller packages 12 to be dispensed in a manner which prevents the packages from being caught between the front wall of the U-shaped bracket and the delivery chute wall (as occurs when the bracket is fixed to the table, see FIG. 6, in accordance with the prior art), even when the ejector mechanism 10 is quite rapidly operated.

Inasmuch as the height of the lowermost package 12a is greater than the height of the table 33 surface above the ledge 28, the second lowermost package 12b of the stack 14 jogs down or eases down onto the table surface as the lowermost package 12a is ejected on the forward stroke of the ejector cage 10. Therefore, the stack 14 does not descent or fall the full distance of the height of the lowermost package 120, i.e., all the way to the ledge 28, in a single fall. Upon the return stroke of the ejector cage 10, the table 33 is withdrawn rearwardly from its position supporting the stack 14 of packages 12 illustrated in FIG. 4, and the new bottommost package 12b of the stack jogs down to the ledge 28 itself, see FIG. 2. This feature breaks the descent of the stack 14 into two steps and aids in eliminating the crushing or breaking of the new bottommost package 12b.

Thus, there is disclosed a series of product dispensers having associated therewith improved ejector cage type dispensing mechanisms 10 with unique ejector cages 32 as described above. The product dispensers are positioned side by side to cooperated with a magazine 13 having vertical package chambers 26 positioned side by side in the vending machine 11. The product dispenser also includes a separate drive mechanism 16 for each improved ejector cage type dispensing mechanism 10. The drive mechanism 16 is used to move the ejector cage 32 between the home position and the eject position. A separate drive mechanism 16 is provided for each ejector cage 10, the mechanism 16 being manually operated by depressing lever 21.

Each drive mechanism 16 includes the plunger arm or lever 21 which is integral with a handle 63, the arm being pivotally mounted on a connector rod 64; the connector rod is mounted between opposed sides of the vending machine. An L-shaped arm 65 is also pivotally mounted to the connector rod 64. The top end of the upright section 66 of the arm is related to vertical plate 58 by pin 67 fixed to the arm, the pin 67 being slidingly engaged with slot 68 in that plate 58. The upright section 66 is continually spring biased toward the home position by tension spring 69 connected between the upright section and depending skirt 70 of the horizontal ledge 28. The tension spring 69; of course, also causes the ejector cage 10 to be continually biased toward the home position. The front or foot 71 of arm 65 is connected to the plunger arm 21 by a spring 72 so that as plunger 21 is depressed both the plunger 21 and the foot 71 rotate counterclockwise about shaft 64 to rotate the vertical position 66, as viewed in FIG. 2.

A drive shaft 73 also carried between sides of the vending machine 11 is positioned parallel to the connector rod 64 and is positioned between the feet 71 of L-shaped arms 65 and plunger arms 21. A series of drive cams 74 are connected to the drive shaft, a drive cam being provided for cooperation with each foot 71. Each cam 74 provides a working edge 75 that cooperates with a pin 76 fixed to tooth 77 that depends from foot 71.

To commence the dispensing cycle, the handle 63 is depressed by the consumer and as the handle is depressed the plunger arm 21, and therewith the L-shaped arm 65, are pivoted counterclockwise as illustrated in FIG. 2 between a first position whereat the ejector cage is in home position and a second position, not shown, whereat the ejector cage has been projected into eject position. As the handle 63 is depressed pin 76 bears against working edge 75 of the cam 74, thereby causing the cam and, hence, the drive shaft 73 to rotate counterclockwise. It is the rotation of the drive shaft 73 that plays a major role in the operation of the coin plate, not shown, the coin plate controlling whether or not rotation of the drive shaft shall be permitted to continue to that point where the ejector cage 10 is located in the eject position. Presence of a coin in the coin plate allows the eject position to be achieved and absence of a coin in the coin plate prevents the eject position from being achieved.

Once the handle 63 has been depressed and the package 12 dispensed, the ejector cage 10 and drive mechanism 16 are drawn back to the home position by the action of spring 69, thereby completing a dispensing cycle.

FIG. 6 illustrates an ejector cage 80 in accordance with the prior art. FIG. 6 is similar to FIGS. 2-4 except that the bracket 82 of the ejector cage 80 is fixed to the table 83, thereby preventing pivotal movement of the bracket relative to the table as the table is moved between a home position and an eject position. When the drive mechanism of a vending machine using the prior art ejector cage 80 is rapidly actuated, for example, when the plunger is rapidly depressed and immediately released thereby allowing the table 83 to snapback quite quickly from its eject position, a IO-cent package 84 being dispensed may well be caught between the bracket 82 and the front edge 85 of the horizontal ledge 86, thereby jamming the machine and preventing further operation until that package is released by a maintenance man.

Having described the preferred embodiment of my invention in detail, what I desire to claim and protect by Letters Patent is:

1. An ejector cage type dispensing mechanism for a vending machine comprising;

a substantially vertically positioned storage chamber adapted to hold a plurality of cookie packages in stacked relation one on top the other,

a fixed horizontal ledge positioned beneath the stack of packages to provide a bottom supporting surface for the stack, and

an ejector cage positioned at the bottom of the stack and adapted to reciprocate horizontally between a home position whereat the bottommost package of the stack is embraced by said cage and an eject position whereat said cage with the bottommost package is pushed from beneath the stack and over said fixed horizontal ledge for dispensing the cookie package,

said ejector cage being defined by a rear pusher plate to which a forwardly extending U-shaped bracket is pivotally mounted, said bracket being interconnected by linkage to a fixed point above said ejector cage such that, as said ejector cage is reciprocated between home position and eject position, said U-shaped bracket is pivoted upwardly.

2. An ejector cage type dispensing mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein said U-shaped bracket is pivoted upwardly to a point where the bottom edge of said bracket's front wall is above the top surface of that cookie package being dispensed as that cookie package is pushed off said fixed horizontal ledge.

the home position, that edge traces a line on the cookie package which is of a height above the bottom of the package that is no greater than about 75 percent of the diameter or width of the cookie package depending on whether the cookie package has a circular or square cross section, respectively. 

1. An ejector cage type dispensing mechanism for a vending machine comprising; a substantially vertically positioned storage chamber adapted to hold a plurality of cookie packages in stacked relation one on top the other, a fixed horizontal ledge positioned beneath the stack of packages to provide a bottom supporting surface for the stack, and an ejector cage positioned at the bottom of the stack and adapted to reciprocate horizontally between a home position whereat the bottommost package of the stack is embraced by said cage and an eject position whereat said cage with the bottommost package is pushed from beneath the stack and over said fixed horizontal ledge for dispensing the cookie package, said ejector cage being defined by a rear pusher plate to which a forwardly extending U-shaped bracket is pivotally mounted, said bracket being interconnected by linkage to a fixed point above said ejector cage such that, as said ejector cage is reciprocated between home position and eject position, said Ushaped bracket is pivoted upwardly.
 2. An ejector cage type dispensing mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein said U-shaped bracket is pivoted upwardly to a point where the bottom edge of said bracket''s front wall is above the top surface of that cookie package being dispensed as that cookie package is pushed off said fixed horizontal ledge.
 3. An ejector cage type dispensing mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein said linkage is a spring connected at one end to the front wall of said U-shaped bracket and at the other end to said fixed point.
 4. An ejector cage type dispensing mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein the bottom edge of said U-shaped bracket''s front wall is positioned such that, when said ejector cage is in the home position, that edge traces a line on the cookie package which is of a height above the bottom of the package that is no greater than about 75 percent of the diameter or width of the cookie package depending on whether the cookie package has a circular or square cross section, respectively. 